


words with friends

by hoodlftv



Series: words with friends series [1]
Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: F/M, Gen, M/M, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-20
Updated: 2020-12-20
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:00:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,789
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28184316
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hoodlftv/pseuds/hoodlftv
Summary: Ashton's niece came to stay with him at the beginning of the lockdown.  Ashton has a thing for Words with Friends, but his internet connection is too slow and he keeps losing to Calum.  His niece convinces him to get better Wi-Fi, and as a result he makes a new, unexpected friend through the game.
Relationships: Ashton Irwin/Original Character(s), Ashton Irwin/You
Series: words with friends series [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2064645
Comments: 1
Kudos: 3





	words with friends

At first, Ashton thought that the lockdown with his 14-year-old niece wouldn’t be so bad - he’d have someone to talk to, crack jokes with, and binge Netflix with. But about a week into them being told they couldn’t leave the house at all is when things started to get a little rocky.

“Uncle Ash, your WiFi is  _ the absolute worst _ . This is the 10th time it’s buffered for this episode of  _ Peaky Blinders _ . It’s too much,” she sighed, pausing the TV so that she could turn to him, “You need to look into getting a better service provider.”

Ashton frowned, glancing up from the game he had just lost on his phone, “Is that why I just lost this game of  _ Words with Friends  _ against Calum?”

“Probably! You both have terrible WiFi - so it was one of you,” On her screen, Ashton could see her looking up potential service providers that could be newly set up without them having to enter your home.

“I think it’s his, I’d put my money on it. My internet’s been fine all this time,” Ashton typed up a message to Calum that said ‘ _ bro your wifi is shit get it fixed _ ’. 

“Fine, or were you just never home long enough for it to become a problem?” 

“Wow, hard hitting facts for a 14 year old.” Ashton’s phone pinged, a simple middle finger emoji as a response from Calum.

“Look, I found one that has contactless set up, and their reviews are great. Just think about it - you don’t know how long this is going to last, and you don’t want to be in the middle of kicking Calum’s ass--”

“Language!” He laughed, placing a hand to his forehead, “Alright, alright. I hear you. Send me the number so I can contact them about it.”

Within a few hours, everything had been arranged - Ashton realized he had a weird sense of attachment to his internet service provider, feeling guilty that he was cancelling on them, especially during a hard time like this. Some reassurance from his niece helped though, and he accepted that his life would likely be better if when he was home he could watch a movie straight through without needing to pause it, go make a snack or two, and come back to see if it had loaded enough.

The next day, the new router arrived on his doorstep, and the man who delivered it was outside in his van, phone at the ready so he could walk Ashton through the setup. Overall it was easier than expected, everything ready to go in less than an hour - he had expected some type of all day event; but much to his delight he was back settled into his couch, underneath a cozy blanket as he opened  _ Words with Friends  _ once again.

He was eager to be able to call his friend out on his poor WiFi, now knowing (hoping) that it would go rather seamlessly. Unfortunately though, Calum was busy at the moment, so Ashton was left to select playing against a stranger the game suggested was his match of the day. It wasn’t often he did that, trying to keep it to just the people he knew - but just this once couldn’t hurt. What did hurt was the fact that this person was absolutely kicking his ass, making his jaw drop with every word they made.

At the end of their game, Ashton frowned when he realized he lost by almost 100 points - how was that even  _ possible _ ? His phone notified that this person wanted to go again, and he wondered for a moment if they wanted to face him again because he seemed like an easy person to win against. His competitive side came out tenfold for this round though, trying his best to think of words that would give him the most bang for his buck, as it were. He almost had them, a few points ahead - but then they put down a word that completely obliterated him.

Ashton almost threw his phone, he did, not used to losing so easily against someone. He liked to think of himself as a wordsmith, he was a songwriter after all, he should be able to be better at this. Tapping the ‘chat’ option, his fingers hesitated over the keys before typing out ‘ _ HOW? _ ’. Aggressive? Maybe, but he needed to know what their secret was.

Their reply was quick, a casual ‘😇’ and somehow that frustrated Ashton more. Maybe he needed to go for a walk. There was no reason why he should be such a sore loser about a game, maybe being on lockdown was driving him slowly stir crazy. His phone buzzes with another notification and the person asked ‘ _ Another round, or are you too scared to lose again?’ _ . Oh, now it was on.

A couple hours, and many rounds later with some occasional banter back and forth between the two of them, Ashton finally needed to stop - his eyes felt like they had gone dry from staring at his phone for hours on end. His niece came into the living room, her head cocking to the side.

“You’re in the same position that you were when I last came down here - have you finally turned into a couch potato? Should I call mom that I’m gonna have to start using you as our produce?” she asked, a grin on her lips. His niece was a mirror image of his sister, and it made him frown - missing her more and more every day. “Why is your face so red? You feeling okay?”

Ashton hadn’t even realized that his face was warm - was he getting sick? Or was it the witty banter back and forth with the person from the game that had gotten to him? He hoped it was the latter, he’d feel incredibly guilty if his niece was stuck in his house with him while he was fighting what was likely the common cold, but the times were uncertain.

“D’know, doesn’t matter. What do you want for dinner?” He asked, brushing off her questions as he followed her into the kitchen.

***

Days later, Ashton had kept up the banter with this stranger. Their conversations were more frequent, and their games less so. It was kind of nice to talk to someone new, someone who didn’t already know what to expect from him, or things to say. His stranger friend seemed off today, and it made him frown slightly, thinking that maybe they were growing tired of talking to him.

_ ‘Your wittiness is off today, friend, you doing alright?’ _ He typed out, pausing for a second before he pressed send - was it weird to ask that of someone? 

It wasn’t long before his phone lit up with a response, ‘ _ Sorry, just tired. My neighbour likes to stay up until ungodly hours playing music, or drums. Sometimes both at the same time. _ ’

Ashton was mid-yawn as he read the words, a small laugh falling from his lips as he recalled his night; staying up until 3 am in his studio playing drums.  _ ‘Wow. Sounds like me and your neighbour could be buds, you should put in a good word for me _ .’

‘ _ Would if I knew them, I moved in not long before all of this started. Didn’t get a chance to be the weird neighbour that pops by with cookies.’ _

Ashton bit his tongue at that, a grin tugging at the corners of his lips,  _ ‘Do it anyways, be even weirder and leave them on the doorstep, give em a scare and a treat. _ ’

‘ _ Should I leave a nice note saying ‘please keep any and all banging prior to midnight’?’ _

_ ‘I’d leave out the banging part, but that sounds like an amusing idea. _ ’

Ashton left their conversation at that, figuring he could continue with his day. Not that his day would consist of much, just attempting to write songs, and test out new recipes with his niece that she always ultimately hated, but it was worth a try. She decided they should go for a walk around their neighbourhood in the afternoon, and after some contemplation he agreed. He never ended up going for a walk the other day like he had meant to.

The sun was warm on their skin as they walked, and his nose picked up the faint smell of apples, making him smile. He thought of his  _ Words with Friends _ friend, hoping their baking was going well too if they had decided to bake a treat for their new neighbour. 

Ashton hadn’t realized how long he and his niece had been gone until his phone buzzed with a new notification from his RING app, alerting of someone at the door as well as making him aware of the time. Wasn’t uncommon, he was waiting on a couple packages - but when he opened the app, he saw someone set something down on his doorstep before walking away. They didn’t appear to be dressed in any type of mail carrier uniform, and Ashton grew a bit distressed by the idea of a foreign item being left on his doorstep.

In an attempt not to worry his niece, he didn’t voice his concerns, instead voicing they should head back. It wasn’t much of a ways away, them already on their way back - but when they arrived Ashton saw a small red tupperware container sitting there with a note on top.

“What’s that?” His niece asked, leaning down to pick up the note - a smirk spread across her lips, eyes flickering towards Ashton, “Seems like your neighbour doesn’t appreciate your late night drum covers,” she spoke, handing him the note.

Reading over the note, Ashton made the connection almost instantly, his heart racing. 

“What’s wrong? You look as if you’ve seen a ghost.”

“That person that’s been annihilating me in  _ Words with Friends,  _ apparently they are our neighbour. We were talking earlier and they mentioned making cookies for their neighbour since they’d just moved to the area.”

His niece nodded, a knowing smile on her lips, “Seems like you guys talk about more than just what is basically Scrabble.”

Swatting at her arm gently, he shooed her inside, picking up the container and opening it - he realized then that the smell of apples that had invaded his senses earlier was them, and it made his heart warm at the thought they were so close.

Taking out his phone, he snapped a quick picture of the container to send to them, simply adding a ‘ _ Thanks for the cookies, I’ll try and keep it down _ .’ Below it before tucking his phone into his pocket to enjoy one of the cookies they had made.

That’s one way to socially distance meet new people, he supposed.


End file.
